Korean city celebrates annual Kimchi festival

The annual mass Kimchi-making event Goesan-Gun Kimchi Festival opened in South Korea's Chungcheongbuk-do on Friday, where hundreds of residents gathered and enjoyed their unique traditional culture amid strict COVID-19 prevention measures.

Kimchi, a spicy Korean side dish made of Chinese cabbage and other vegetables, plays a vital role in the Korean diet. It comes with almost every meal in South Korea.

The process of making kimchi ahead of the cold winter months is known as gimjang. It was officially inscribed onto the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2013.

Gimjang is a communal activity, traditionally done in groups. For anti-epidemic purpose, this year's event was held separately in over 40 tents. Participants were divided into 420 small teams for the activities.

A series Kimchi-making competition and a lecture were also held, where a Kimchi master chef guided families throughout the ancient process of pickling vegetables.

The average consumption of Kimchi per South Korean is believed to be up to 25 kilograms annually. But this year, as prices are soaring high due to shortages of key ingredients caused by soft rot bacteria and extreme weathers, the cost of kimchi consumption for Korean families was expected to grow sharply.

According to data provided by the South Korean Ministry of Agriculture, the production for autumn cabbage has fallen 12 percent from a year earlier. As a result, cabbage prices are 53.4 percent higher than what they were a year earlier.

In addition, prices of dry garlic, kosher salt and other ingredients for kimchi are also rising rapidly. It is estimated that a family of four would have to spend about more than 1,890 yuan (about 295.36 U.S. dollars) on making 20 cabbages for kimchi this year.